Dreamcatchers
by Haurvatat
Summary: Yoh sobbed, the tears never once taking pity on his already torn soul. This wasn't supposed to be the way that things turned out. It was supposed to be a wonderful. A dream. This... this was a nightmare. Hao X Yoh, R&R plzkthxbai
1. 2 am and I'm still awake writing a song

Hello! I've been reading Shaman King lately. I had heard about it from a very good friend of mine a while ago, and I remember her squealing about Hao and Yoh being so totally perfect for each other. I also remember just nodding my head and smiling, seeing as I had no idea who these characters were and it's usually just best to agree with this particular friend, or any fangirl for that matter. Haha. Well, all the same, I had run out of things to read and remembered that the main character of Shaman King was sort of adorable. This led to my current fangirl status. Because of this friend, I am definitely now a Hao X Yoh fangirl, as opposed to the Amidamaru X Yoh fan that I was before Hao and his smexy ass showed up.

DISCLAIMER: If Shaman King belonged to me, I would get off my ass and finish the damn manga series. It's been abandoned since 2004, so that idea's shot.

* * *

_I used to cry myself to sleep_

_And fear the darkness yet to come_

_The pain and fear, it all would keep_

_And add up to a vicious sum._

_So when broke dawn and sacred day_

_By light of Sun and Grace of God_

_I'd welcome morn – O, come what may!_

_The night –its dark- should be outlaw'd._

_The thing, though, can't be escaped_

_It comes for you in hours past_

_To leave your soul bared and raped_

_A life like this shall never last._

* * *

Yoh Asakura was the type of kid who didn't really think before doing things. Or maybe it was that he thought too much. Whatever the case was, he would often be seen doing only one of several things: staring off into space, listening to music, eating, sleeping, or watching the sky. His schedule very rarely deviated from these things. All were rather pensive activities, something you would expect of Buddhist monks, not a fifteen-year-old. However, most were also the basic things that everyone did to survive, which one could argue showed a rather pathetic _lack_ of thought put into Yoh's daily activities. Yoh, on the other hand, just did what suited him and ignored the rest of civilization.

So, naturally, when a person comes along who can really grab his attention, that person tends to be thought of as a God.

This was precisely what happened when the transfer student, Hao Asakura, joined Yoh's high school classes. Hao was the new kid in school, but somehow, over the course of five minutes, he had become easily the most popular kid in school.

Here's how he had achieved this: He had walked in the doors with his long, dark brown hair, big, beautiful eyes, sweet face, and massive earrings and single-handedly attracted the attention of every single girl there – even the gay ones, seeing as they had high hopes that he might actually be a very hot woman. Well, if it was Hao, he could pull it off. The males, needless to say, felt a little offended that someone like Hao could just snap away their girlfriends' attentions, so they decided to gang up on him and try to pull his long feminine hair. Hao had proved himself more than capable of taking care of himself, which naturally meant that the total injuries of three boys included two broken arms, five broken legs, one cracked rib, six black eyes, fourteen bruises, and other assorted injuries that none of the participants looked forward to explaining to their parents or the school nurse, who was a notorious gossip. Once that had been successfully taken care of, most of the school was either in love with him or trying desperately to get him on their sports team. So, in all actuality, it had taken not five minutes to dominate the school, but three. It had just taken two minutes to spread throughout the ears of every person. Every person but Yoh Asakura, seeing as he had been listening to his music and had not been present at this grand arrival. Yoh Asakura didn't have a chance to prepare himself for the inevitable.

Yoh Asakura was in deep shit.

* * *

"Yoh…. Yoh? YOOOOOOOOH." Eventually Manta gave up and yanked Yoh's headphones back off of his ears. Yoh raised a questioning eyebrow at the considerable shorter boy. The eyebrow said that he wasn't mad, but would rather like to know what was so important that the music had to go away. "Class is starting. You'll really fail if you keep this up, and that means that Anna will finally chain you to the doghouse like she's been threatening for the last two weeks," Manta informed his friend. Yoh's eyes widened. He had totally forgotten Anna's proposal, seeing as she made so many threats so often.

"Thanks," he said, turning his headphones off all the way.

"No problem." Manta dashed around another two desks to reach his own just in time for the teacher to throw open the door.

"Students, as many of you doubtlessly already know, we have a new student today," she said, being good friends with the school nurse who was always somewhat loose of tongue. "Asakura-kun, please come in." Yoh's face twitched in mild surprise.

Those belonging to the female and jock portions of the student body made worshipful sounds as the boy walked into the class, toting a few brand-new books and a binder that looked painfully tidy and well organized. Hao looked totally unconcerned with the responses he was getting from his face alone.

Manta was, unfortunately, surrounded solely by girls and jocks, so there was quite a bit of worshipping happening on his end of the room. He looked uncomfortably around, wondering what the hell was so great about some new guy. Maybe, if the teacher was willing to let it slide today, he would grab the desk next to Yoh and let the new kid sit with his many admirers…

"My name is Asakura Hao. I look forward to working with you all. I will try not to drag the class down as best I may," he said blandly. "Which desk should I occupy?"

The teacher blushed faintly herself and pointed. "The desk next to Asakura-kun, please." Hao gave the woman an 'are you really sure you meant to say what you said' look. "Oh! No, not _you_, Asakura-kun, the _other_ Asakura-kun. Asakura-kun, will you please raise your hand, if you can hear me over your music this time?"

Yoh jumped up instantaneously. "I'm Asakura Yoh. Nice to have you with us. Would it be okay if the class called you Hao-san? Hao-kun? Something so that the two of us don't get confused?" The class stared. First off, a shocking amount of the time, Yoh never heard instructions given by the teacher and of course did not obey them, let alone in so prompt a manner. Second, because of this slacker-esque habit, most people did not really talk to him. That being said, if no one spoke to him, he didn't speak. Manta was one of the only ones in their grade who spoke to him, and even Manta received only a few sparse words. To hear Yoh speaking in complete sentences – plural! – was something that was quite literally unheard of.

Hao smiled. "Of course. It would follow, judging from how simple it would be to mix us up." And it was true. Name and face matched perfectly.

"Are you two related or something?" a cheerleader asked. "Twins or something?"

"No. Never met him a day in my life," they responded simultaneously. Their voices melded perfectly. It almost sounded like one voice, much how the voices of Tweedledee and Tweedledum did in _Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There_. They turned to stare at each other. It freaked Yoh out and surprised Hao. Silently, for no words were needed, they agreed to never speak in unison again.

"Ah, well, Asak- er, Hao-san, please take your seat. Class will be starting now," the teacher said.

Hao did as instructed.

Yoh was left with a very fast-beating heart and complete confusion in his mind. Even without his music blaring, concentrating on the lesson was going to prove to be impossible.

* * *

"I'm telling you, you're cursed now!! There's a legend about people's Doppelgangers you know! A Doppelganger is a person in the world with your face and your voice, and when you see your Doppelganger, you're supposed to die in the next 24 hours!!" Manta cried at lunch. "Yoh, it's been really wonderful knowing you. Good luck."

"No way I'm dying," Yoh said with an easy smile. He pushed an orange slice into his mouth whole.

"Easy for you to say. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Thanks for your concern."

"But wow. I didn't think he'd get this much attention. That Hao kid. Just goes to show."

"Just goes to show what?"

"The pretty faces get it all," Manta sighed and covered his own face with his arms.

"Pretty… faces?"

"Yeah. Don't let it go to your head. Actually, that's a good point. If you guys have the same face, how come you're not as popular as he is?"

A passing colour guard girl wrapped her arms around Yoh's shoulders, laughing. "That's because Hao-sama is _hot_."

"And I'm not?" Yoh asked, somehow not concerned by the fact that a big-busted girl he didn't know too well was latched onto his back and hugging him. He was used to being the surrogate son of every girl in the school.

"No, baby. You're cute in that impossibly adorable way. Think of it as the difference between a romantic guy and a raw power kind of guy. Me, I go for the cute types like you, but something about Hao-sama gets even my types fangirling over him. He's _hot_, baby." She kissed him on the cheek and ran to meet up with her friends.

Manta shot Yoh a dangerous look. "Look at you. Even _you_ get them crawling all over you. I don't know how you do it, you slimy bastard."

Yoh just laughed.

"Do you even know that girl?"

"Not really."

"Not really? Do you at least know her name?"

"I think it's Celestine."

"Know anything else about her?"

"She's got a boyfriend in the art club named Nihil."

"… I hate you."

"I see." Yoh just kept at his extensive store of citrus.

Manta's head jerked up as a metal tray was slid across the coarse lunchtable.

"Hello. Mind too badly if I sit with you two? I don't really know anyone here other than Yoh-san," Hao said, smiling lightly. Manta froze up, but Yoh answered easily.

"Sure. We don't mind. It's gotta be hard trying to assimilate into another school," Yoh said.

"Oh, not really. The classes I've been assigned so far have proved to be very accommodating."

"I'll bet they have," Manta muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing!!"

"And please," Yoh said, "Don't call me Yoh-san. It makes me feel uncomfortable; always has. Just Yoh's fine. I'm a pretty laid-back guy, so it won't be that weird if you call me that, even if you're new."

"On one condition," Hao said, sliding the comment in smoothly.

Yoh raised an eyebrow. "This condition being…?"

"Refer to me with no honorifics, either. I'm not the type to do anything halfway. If I don't use honorifics, neither should you."

"Done deal," Yoh said, extending a hand.

The two shook on it, and despite the innocent subject, Manta, looking on, couldn't help but compare it to a Deal with the Devil.

* * *

School had been over for four hours and Yoh had no intention of going home as of yet. It was winter, so twilight had already come and gone, leaving only the beautiful, clear skies behind. Perhaps stargazing was a good hobby to have, but most people were expected to do so from the comfort of their homes or backyards.

Most people were not expected to hang around derelict graveyards for _any_ purpose, really.

Yoh was different, as usual. He sat on the tombstone of a young woman who had died three hundred years ago in childbirth with twins and stared, unblinking, at the stars as Chris Brown songs filled the air around his head. Yoh felt completely at peace. It was one of the few times a day that he really could feel whole, and this time was little different. The only thing that had changed had been Yoh's thoughts. Normally, Yoh didn't think too much on things. Normally, not much happened to him, so being pensive was of no use and considered a bit of a waste of time. This time, though, something remarkably interesting had happened. Yoh's eyes broke contact with the stars as he stared at his own hand. Ever since touching the other boy, his hand had been aching. Just the quick handshake had filled him with the most wonderful sensation he'd felt in a very, very long time. He was sure that he'd felt it before, but couldn't for the life of him put his finger on where or when. Since, his hand had longed for the touch once more until the point where it had begun to ache. Or perhaps it was aching with the cold. Who could tell? He crossed the fingers of his left and right hands, looking for all the world like a child deep in prayer. Hao's hand had been the same size with the same firm grip that he had felt earlier. Shouldn't it have been the same? But no. Something vital was missing. He only felt like Yoh now, as he had been throughout his life. There had been something alien in the touch, something that Yoh ached to feel again, and soon.

As if answering his mock prayers, a hand – no, _the_ hand – clamped gently around Yoh's left shoulder.

Yoh's head lifted and turned to face the other boy. He stared into the Hao's dark, fathomless eyes and forgot to breathe.

"And?"

"And what?" Yoh asked.

"What are you doing here, of all places, in the middle of the night? Surely your family is worried about you?" Hao asked.

Yoh took a soft, but audible breath and turned his face away to gaze back up at the heavens. "I was looking at _them_. They're never so clear as they are in this town. People are really looking to conserve electricity in this town, so all the lights go off after a certain time, and you can see everything. It's quite breathtaking, really. And it's always nice to stargaze with others. It would be a shame if they got lonely." Yoh prayed that Hao wouldn't think he had gone mad for talking about people that undoubtedly the other couldn't see. Most people who found out doubted his sanity. Even so, Yoh was never the type to hide things, so he just hoped to himself that whatever Hao thought, it wasn't going to include the words 'crazy', 'nutjob', or 'psychotic'.

"Thought so," Hao said softly. "You're one as well, aren't you?"

"A what?" Yoh asked, trying to sound nonchalant to hide his quickening heartbeat.

"A shaman, of course."

Yoh's eyes widened. That word. He had heard the word before, countless times in fact, but mostly he had heard it from old books. He had never considered applying the word to himself before. "Depends on what you mean by that."

"Let me put it this way. Can you see spirits?" Hao asked.

"Yes," Yoh said.

"Can you hear spirits?"

"Of course."

"Can you touch spirits?"

"… Yes."

"Then you," Hao said simply, "are a shaman. I'm one as well, and it seems you have quite a bit to learn on the subject."

* * *

Okay, that was the first chapter. I'm not really sure where to go with this, but I'm sure I'll have a beautiful idea sooner or later. When that day comes, I'm probably going to write one really long-ass chapter. Most of the chapters that I post these days tend to be anywhere from 5.5-8 pages long, just for the newcomers – mostly I keep them at a steady rate of 7 pages. The more inspiration I have, the faster these chapters will come out. I'm not going to say 'expect a chapter a day' or something, but if something brilliant really hits me, it's perfectly possible. It happened with my Yu-Gi-Oh!GX fanfiction; it can happen here. Btw, the poem at the top I made up in, like, eight minutes, if that. I wanted to find a real poem to stick up there, but it seems that no one had written what I considered to be thoughtful or flowing poetry. I'm sure mine's not much better, but it serves my purposes better than the weak poems I found on the 'net. If people want to use it, I don't care. Just please mention my name. It's all I ask.

I hope you enjoyed it!!

Tell me what you think!! If people don't really like it, I probably won't post much more, and of course the inverse is true.

REVIEW OR BE KILLED BY UNDEAD Chihuahuas. And that's a pretty damn scary threat right there.


	2. If I get it all down on paper

Back

Back! Since yesterday I found myself mentioning a lack of inspiration regarding this fic, I started really putting more thought into what was going to happen. Thanks to that, there's actually going to be a plot. Who would've thought it? I'm going to try to get chapters out as soon as possible, seeing as it may actually BE possible now. Yay for directional plots!! Now to actually write everything out…

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Shaman King, I'd mix up Yoh's playlists a little bit. Toss in some interesting stuff OTHER than 'Soul Bob' or whatever the hell his name is.

* * *

_With patience deep, you lay in wait_

_For one who suited all your needs_

_Or someone close, at any rate_

_To plant within: your evil seeds._

_Was I to know what was to come?_

_Was I to know of blackened hearts?_

_Upon my heartstrings played a strum_

_That's when the loving feeling starts._

_I followed you and all your sin_

_Though I knew not wherefore you led:_

_To do to me as done to kin_

_To leave me broken, doomed, and dead._

* * *

Hao was a man who knew what he wanted in life, and more often than not, it showed. He turned heads. People worshipped him. They loved him, for reasons unknown to them. Hao wasn't sure why he failed to capture the attention of people like Manta, but he had his own theories.

Hao, in a way, had not lied when he said that he did nothing halfway. It also meant that he planned nothing half-assedly. He had not come to such a backwater school as this one for no reason at all. It was quite the opposite, in fact.

Hao was looking for souls to devour.

A strange pastime, to be sure, but beggars can't be choosers. Naturally, the only souls worth having were the souls of shamans. For some reason, normal humans were disgustingly bland. Shaman souls had a wonderful tangy flavour. It was Hao's style: first he'd come to a new town and seek out any kind of reaction from a body of condensed spiritual power. Hao had managed to narrow down the location of the most powerful reaction to one homeroom class. As soon as that had been determined, he had sent in the forged transcripts and been readily accepted to the school. Then he had hacked into the computer system of the school and messed around with his schedule until it matched that of the person he was seeking. He hadn't really known or identified the shaman until he'd walked into the class. The instant he saw Yoh's face, it had clicked. This one was the one. There was little room for doubt. In time, Hao was going to gain Yoh's absolute trust and then, once the he had been cultivated and trained enough to have a strong spirit, he'd take his soul and integrate it with his own. The people who became exceptionally strong generally became his followers instead of being eaten. The eaten would be translated into spiritual energy, which would in turn benefit Hao and make him much stronger. The plan hadn't changed for a long time. Eating souls also proved to be very good for physical appearances; Hao had been alive for a thousand years so far and still looked the same as he had looked the day he had first learned of the benefits of ingesting shaman souls.

He was grateful that this time around, the shaman in question was a very easygoing person. It made it a lot easier to assume instantaneous friendliness. Those sorts of people were usually the biggest suckers.

Hao smiled and looked up at the stars. He held this town in great esteem. So many lights were shut off at night to conserve electricity that the stars shone with their full glory all night long. It was breathtaking. Hao stopped dead on the sidewalk in order to avoid walking straight in to a telephone pole or something equally uncharacteristic of him while gazing at the brilliant sky. All that this town needed was a centuries-old graveyard.

Right on cue, two blocks later, the longed-for cemetery came into view. Hao smiled. This place really did have everything. But – what? That was insane. There seemed to be a large, living, breathing mass sitting on one of the taller headstones. Hao's smile faded. Why did humans always get to the good parts of life before he did? Looking closer, Hao blinked in surprise. It was no normal human at all. It was Yoh. Hao's suspicions, iron as they already were, officially were set in stone. For the most part, shamans were the people the most in touch with nature and with the dead. Yoh's actions fit the bill perfectly. His very nature, paired with his abnormal pastimes, sealed it. Hao ventured closer to the boy who stared openly at the sky, unblinking. Yoh didn't move. Hao rightly supposed that he was lost in thought.

Hao took a few longer strides forward. He could now very faintly hear the beats of some popular new song playing, tinny and shrill from the distance the waves had to travel. Still, Yoh didn't hear him, didn't notice him, and didn't turn around.

Hao was directly behind the other boy. He could have breathed and the breath would have ghosted over the slim shoulder. Hao was a little bit astounded at how unbelievably out of it the child in question really was. He extended a pale hand to gently rest it on his left shoulder.

Yoh didn't jump a foot in the air, to his credit. His head turned slowly to look at Hao. For a few elastic seconds, their eyes met. Hao felt a little strange, being under the piercing gaze of swirling dark eyes so like his own. It was a little unnerving.

"And?" he said.

"And what?"

Hao laughed inside. "What are you doing here, of all places, in the middle of the night? Surely your family is worried about you?"

Yoh had an unconsciously surprised face on, clearly showing that he hadn't even thought for a second that any family of his might be worried. Hao wondered what kind of home life the boy had. No family was the best kind of family, seeing as it made Hao's job a lot easier. It was always easier if no one was there to look for the missing people once they vanished.

Yoh turned back to the sky and began to speak. Hao had heard all of Yoh's words before, but in his own head. Why, even the bit about the lights going down in the city so that the stars were clearer had been reproduced, right here, from a stranger's mouth!

Hao shook his head slightly when Yoh stopped talking. "Thought so," he said softly. "You're one as well, aren't you?"

Yoh wasn't particularly good at hiding the fear in his voice. "A what?"

"A shaman, of course."

Hao was having fun with this. Yoh looked like he was about to have a panic attack, or the closest expression to it that his face could twist itself into. It was all he could do to not laugh aloud. . "Depends on what you mean by that."

"Let me put it this way. Can you see spirits?" Hao asked.

"Yes," Yoh said.

"Can you hear spirits?"

"Of course."

"Can you touch spirits?"

"… Yes."

"Then you," Hao said simply, "are a shaman. I'm one as well, and it seems you have quite a bit to learn on the subject."

Hao was delighted. No prior training? No other masters? No knowledge about the shaman world at all? This was priceless. This was beautiful. Often enough, the shamans that Hao hunted down for their souls had already been taught some of the basics, at least. Mostly only the strong caught Hao's attention in the first place, and usually if they were strong, it was because their powers had been refined through training. By that time, the shaman's powers had already begun to shape themselves in whatever form their teacher also possessed. In order to get the most you could out of eating their souls, the victim had to have powers as close to your own as possible. It was like trying to take a meticulously crafted ring and changing it into an earring with a completely different design. It took long, hard work, and often wasn't worth the trouble it presented.

Now here, here in front of him, was an exceptionally strong beginner with powers that had yet to take on any form at all. If Hao himself were to teach Yoh, then his powers would be a dead-on match. It was too perfect. This was going to prove to be one of Hao's more profitable ventures.

"'T-to learn'? Is there a lot to know?" Yoh asked.

Oh yeah. One of Hao's _considerably_ more profitable ventures.

Hao laughed quietly. "Naturally. In fact, I think that I, being the senior shaman of the two of us, should be the one to teach you the basics, and perhaps a bit beyond just those." Yoh looked alarmed.

"But why should I want to learn shaman stuff at all? What if I really don't care one way or another?"

"Because, Yoh, shamanism is much more interesting than quantum physics or calculus, despite being harder than the two of them combined. It's something that is rewarding both right now and later in life. It's the thing in your blood and very soul that makes you far more special than those who don't share your abilities. It's the thing that leads you to live the way you do. It's why you and I both gravitated to a cemetery like this for the exact same reason."

"To look at the stars?"

"Precisely."

Yoh breathed in wonder. Whatever it entailed, it sounded wonderful. And Hao, the one person who really caught Yoh's attention, was fully capable of teaching him? Yoh's heart skipped a beat or twelve. "Please… teach me, if it's not too much trouble."

Hao smiled a brilliant smile for the other boy.

"I'll teach, as long as you are willing to learn." And with that, he leaned over, brushing his lips over Yoh's for the briefest of instants. "Do your best, Yoh."

Yoh sat there, staring into space with shock. Had he… just been… _kissed_? Oh dear. This could pose problems for Yoh's masculinity.

* * *

Yoh sat by the window in his home. Anna had left that morning to pay a visit to her adoptive family, the Asakura family. She wasn't supposed to be back for a week and a half or so. Yoh had never quite been so grateful for the lack of bustle in the house.

He ran a finger gently over his lips and shuddered at the sensation.

Had Hao really kissed him, or had it just been a brief moment of fancy? It was unthinkable. They had only met that morning, and yet… There was little mistaking that lightning bolt of emotion that he could distinctly remember coursing through his body, all the way down to his cold, freezing toes. Yoh wore sandals, regardless of what season it may or may not be.

The feeling, though only in his memory, coursed through his body once more. Hao really WAS something special if he could do this to him. Yoh bit his fingers unconsciously. Uncertainty was the one thing that Yoh hated most of all, and damn if Hao didn't personify every aspect of it.

And what did he mean by "shaman"? Yoh had looked up the word as soon as he'd gotten home. Supposedly, it meant, " a member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and practices magic or sorcery for healing, divination, and control over natural events", or at least that was what Noah Webster, lexicographer, thought it was. It was usually best not to argue with the dictionary. The 'medium' part Yoh could understand all too well, but magic? Sorcery? Healing? Divination? Yoh would never be able to do that sort of stuff in a million years. Half of it was junk that wasn't even supposed to be _possible_.

Yoh smiled suddenly. In retrospect, seeing dead people was supposed to be impossible, too.

The boy examined a paper cut on his right index finger that he had gotten earlier that day. It had been bothering him a lot, and if the dictionary said he could do it – well! Anatomy had been one of the more interesting classes that Yoh had taken, so he pictured in his mind the complete anatomical makeup of his finger.

Bones linked together, firm walls of calcium and spongy marrow. Cushioning fat cells in each joint. A tendon attached, a few other little details like veins and blood cells, and Yoh had completed the picture. Looking mildly at his physical finger, he added the paper cut to the image, taking into account how deep it was. Now to picture what he wanted. Nerves and skin webbing across the gap to mesh themselves together in one, unbroken, healthy strip of flesh. Pain vanishing, perhaps a slight itching sensation at the rapid healing process. Everything that Yoh had heard about magic said that as long as you wanted it bad enough, it was possible. There could be no room for doubt. Oddly enough, because Yoh was in a very relaxed state of mind, it was very easy to concentrate; no stray thoughts popped up to distract him. Yoh closed his eyes so that he wouldn't look for progress. It was all or nothing. Slowly the cut began to shrink. It took seven long minutes of unbroken concentration to do it, but it had been completely healed. Yoh, however, didn't know for the simple reason that his eyes were still closed. He believed that he had made no progress at all. Yoh sighed and opened his eyes in defeat, eyes almost instantly training themselves on the spot where the obstinate cut was supposed to be.

Yoh stared for a minute or two, stretching and pulling the skin along his finger. Not a scar, not a scratch, not a break, not a drop of blood. There wasn't even a sign of the scab that had been forming already. It was impossible to tell it had ever even been there.

Yoh smiled so brilliantly that the entire room lit up along with him. He let out a glad cry and spun around in circles a few times. Overjoyed cackles could be heard outside the walls of the house, but no one was ever daft enough to stop and wonder why.

_I'm a shaman_, Yoh thought gleefully. _And as long as I can do this, I even get to stick around Hao. There's no downside to it!! Not one!!_

* * *

Yoh's excitement carried over to the next day, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"Yoh? What's got you in such a good mood?" Manta asked. To see almost any kind of emotion on his friend's face was a rare occurrence.

Yoh grinned. "That obvious? It's a secret," he said, winking. "I'll tell you someday. 'Kay?" He laughed infectiously, darting out of the room to catch some unknown person and spread the love a little.

Manta's own smile began to fade. Something was clearly up with his friend, but he had no idea what could cause such a change. Actually, no. The tiny boy knew exactly what the difference was.

Hao.

One thing had changed since yesterday morning and the mornings before that, and that was Hao. Whatever the beautiful boy had done behind Manta's back, it was enough to completely transform the personality of his best friend. Manta wasn't comfortable with change, especially when he was so excluded. But Yoh had promised to tell him later, so he'd have to settle for that.

Yoh, in the meantime, had seen Hao for a split second and had dashed through the throngs of people with the ease of any self-respecting long-time street kid.

"Hao! Wait up a sec!" Hao's head turned slightly at the sound of Yoh's voice, but of course did not stop. It was suicide to go against the flow of the other students in the cramped back halls of the school. Yoh took full advantage of his slightly below-average height and ducked through the denser areas of the crowd to reach Hao. "Hao!"

"Hey. Sorry I couldn't turn around. You look happy this morning. Something good happen?" Hao offered a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

Yoh blushed and glanced down. "Ah, n-no, not really… er, I mean yes! I – uh… Well, I went home last night after… um, yeah, and I sort of experimented a little!" Yoh couldn't help but feel that his reason to be happy was small and insignificant. Surely Hao could do the same thing?

"Experimented?"

"Yeah. Um, can you heal your own injuries?"

Hao's eyes opened wide. He couldn't have. It was impossible. There. Was. No. Fucking. Way. But still, the honest joy that Yoh had possessed when first seeing him couldn't possibly be faked so well. But was it conceivable that a raw beginner in the shamanic arts already knew how to heal?

"I can," Hao said, bracing himself.

"Well, I tried it out and it worked! I have no idea how or why, but it did! I still can't do it quickly and I don't want to try it on a larger scale wound, but it's better than nothing, right?" Hao couldn't avoid those hopeful, desperate eyes.

"It is. Considerably. You're amazing. I've never heard of someone catching on so quickly," Hao said honestly.

Yoh hopped for joy, the silly smile replaced. "Wow. Uhm, thanks." He blushed and glued his eyes to the floor again. "It felt wonderful. I really want to learn from you. I'll do what you ask of me, I swear."

Hao smiled and shook his head. "I already said I'd teach you, right?"

Yoh beamed once more and pulled the other boy into a quick, heartfelt hug before vanishing into the crowds. Hao looked after him in surprise. Everything about the boy perplexed him, but excited him at the same time. Shaking his head a last time, Hao continued on his way down the halls, wondering vaguely how he was going to get all the way back to homeroom before the bells sounded.

* * *

Okay! That's chapter two!! I just now typed this up really late and just… arrrgh. There are probably a hundred and two mistakes in here grammar-wise or something like that. Words left out, incorrect tenses… Things that traditionally make my soul cringe. I'll fix them as soon as I have a free will and the amount of consciousness necessary to successfully proofread one's own work. Thanks to those who reviewed/put this fic on their Alerts. You rock more than I can say so late at night. I love you.

REVIEW OR BE KILLED BY A RAVEN AND AN ORANGUTAN. YAY FOR POE REFERENCES. XD

Bye-bye.


	3. It's no longer inside of me

Hello once more, folks! I'm probably supposed to be sorry about the rapidly increasing update timeframe thing, but I'm really not, for some reason. It's been one of those nice, relaxing days for me, filled with Broadway musicals from the comfort of my home, hot chocolate, my favourite hot foods, Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged, and a bunch of other things that were nice. We had rain, too. I love going out and walking around in the rain. Dunno why. Just do.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Shaman King, I wouldn't need a disclaimer in ALL CAPS just to ward off a court case. Hell, if you're stupid enough to believe I don't need one, maybe YOU should be practicing law. Seems like that's what the world's come to these days.

* * *

_I kept to you and did not stray_

_And you would swear your heart was mine_

_But, in truth, there was no day_

_In which I was not surely thine._

_My feet ne'er once did touch the ground;_

_The envy of each every dove_

_My heart was flying, now unbound_

_With thoughts that surely this was love._

_Did not your black heart ache within?_

_Some guilt along with baited lure_

_Did not your soul regret its sin_

_To twist 'round something white and pure?_

* * *

Ever since the Asakuras had taken to training together, it seemed that they had lost all possible hints of subtlety that they may once have had. Occasionally, one would leave to go home and the other would run to catch up. They would walk together while going home, even though everyone at the school knew that when coming to school, they came from opposite directions. It was highly suspicious. It really didn't help that Hao was insanely popular and attracted unwanted attention in ALL of his movements, but Yoh's ever-present popularity with the female population was the last nail in the coffin.

"Did you hear about those two?"

"I heard Hao-sama goes to Yoh-kun's house every day and doesn't go home 'til around seven in the afternoon."

"No way!"

"_Sus-pi-cioooouuuuuus_!"

The girls laughed as they passed Manta down the halls, not even bothering to keep their voices down. Manta blushed a dull red. Why were all girls secretly yaoi fangirls? It wasn't fair. Believe it or not, _some_ guys _did_ exist who weren't totally fruity every hour of every day. Manta himself was a prime example, right?

The tiny boy pushed a hand against the doorframe and swung himself around into his classroom and over to his desk. Chattering came from the couple of desks in front of his. Oh, Jesus, was he safe from it _nowhere_?

"I can't believe Hao-sama and Yoh-kun are such fast friends. Y'know, it's only been, like, four days since he first showed up, and now they act like they've known each other their whole lives…"

"Maybe they really _do_ know each other and just keep quiet about it?"

"Nah, doubt it. Why would they lie? There's no motive for a trick like that, especially if they're gonna hook up like that so fast all over again. Nope, it's gotta be a first meeting."

"I was talking about, like, maybe they knew each other in another life!"

"And fell in love there!"

"So now they're in love here!"

"Yeah!!"

"You're a retard."

"I'm serious! Look at how they interact. Just, one of these days, _watch_ them. Their movements look choreographed, almost. Perfectly planned, always moving just as the other does. Actions and words melding seamlessly. That sort of behaviour is what comes after a lifetime of marriage or being born and raised together. If they aren't twins in this lifetime, maybe they were lovers once?"

"Wait, back up. You mean you watch them every minute of every day enough to notice that kind of stuff?"

"Ah! No! That's not- Ooooh! Stop laughing, I mean it! You guys are so mean!"

Manta winced. Okay, strike that whole thing about no subtlety. It was like they were trying to attract attention on purpose now. Maybe he ought to mention to rumours to Yoh so that he could try to be a LITTLE more discreet with whatever it was that he was doing. He still hadn't told Manta anything, much to the little man's chagrin.

Manta raised one eyebrow unconsciously as he thought to himself. Well, if everyone else was doing it…

"Actually, girls, you don't know the half of it," he said.

"Hmm? Hey, aren't you Yoh-kun's friend in this class?" asked a brunette.

"Yeah, so I've got more examples of weird behaviour that you don't see on school grounds," he said.

"Ooooooh." He instantly had the attention of all three girls, brunette, redhead, and blonde. Was this what it felt like to be Hao or Yoh, with the eyes of the entire female population on you? The pressure was a little bit crushing.

"Well, for example, Yoh more often that not forgets all about pre-arranged stuff. The other day, we'd planned to hang out at an arcade in town, and he somehow forgot all about it. He doesn't really have much to do or anyone to interact with in his house, so there's no way he'd forget unless someone else got his attention, and we all know that there's only one person who can do that."

The girls grinned widely at each other, especially the blonde, who had been the one to come up with the reincarnated lovers theory.

"And whenever Hao-san skips class, Yoh does, too. It's the same whenever Hao-san walks through the halls and Yoh sees him. He just drops whatever he's doing and will run over right off the bat."

"Such devotion!" said the redhead. "That's really sweet of Yoh-kun!! I mean, we all knew he was sweet, but that's really pretty romantic!"

"But what's Hao-sama bringing to the party?" asked the brunette. "If he mistreats our Yoh-kun, we're going to have to kill him, pretty as he is or not."

"Oh, of course." The two other girls agreed instantly. Manta was a little frightened of the wrath that was coming off of the trio in corporeal waves of evil-smelling death. Yes, it was true that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Or, in this case, a woman protecting one who she considered her surrogate child.

"Wow. Uh… I haven't ever seen a girl who was all over Hao-san at first sight…" Manta accidentally thought out loud.

"Maybe. Sounds about right, anyway," the blonde said. "But still, our maternal love overpowers our hormones." More nods from her companions. In this, at least, they were united.

"Well, all I know is that whatever Hao-san agreed to give Yoh, it's making him happier than I've seen him in all the years I've known him."

"You mean you don't know for sure?"

"Yoh said he was going to tell me someday, but apparently 'til then it's a secret. I don't really know too much. The two of them are really good at keeping secrets, even if they're terrible at hiding the fact that they HAVE a secret."

"Okay, okay… so it's all a big mystery…"

"That's so great! As long as the two of them are happy, I support them all the way!!"

"Say, kid, what's your name again?"

"Manta, or in other words, the loser with stunted growth cycles," he said.

"Manta, huh? Well, my name's Shibai, drama geek extraordinaire," said the redhead.

"I'm Kaime, youngest of five siblings and the only one not in college yet," said the brunette.

"And I'm Shindou, prodigy of the flute with crazy good grades in math and band and nothing else," said the blonde.

The bond was made between these four, having given their names and relative positions in life. Now came the clincher.

"We're all three yaoi fangirls," the three said in unison. "And you are?"

"-not gay. I just want to see my friend happy for once. I can't help but not trust Hao-san. Something seems off about him, so there's no way I'm just going to fork over my best friend in a few days and let it go at that. I want to protect my friend as best I can from the shadows, where he clearly wants me to be in this matter. I'll need to find out everything I can about Hao-san, not to mention information on what he and Yoh are actually doing behind my back so that I can determine whether he's a threat or not. For that sort of thing, I figured that I'd need you girls and your… considerable… ability to collect information from every corner of the globe. The yaoi fangirls I've met in my day have all been interconnected in one vast network of gayness. I need resources like yours if I'm going to finish the job I've set out to do. Can you please help me? By the way, I'm totally not gay for Yoh, if that's the first thing that popped into your heads when I said that. I'm totally just the concerned friend figure here." The girls exchanged guilty glances. "I'm also asking for your help because I totally don't want to have anything to do with investigating if they really ARE doing something gay. I don't want to get caught up in all of that, between you and me."

The girls looked at each other momentarily.

"Done," they said together.

* * *

"You're not connected enough with the fighting!" Hao yelled. "Try to concentrate at least a little!"

"I can _try_, but no promises," Yoh muttered.

Hao was trying to teach Yoh hand-to-hand combat. Yoh was, as he had said many a time before, a laid-back guy. Unfortunately, that also meant that he only defended most of the time. He only tuned into the fight when it was necessary and was off in la-la land the rest of the time. Hao was having a hell of time getting him to try any offensive at all.

Hao sent a jab towards the boy's collarbone, long fingers outstretched. Yoh twisted his arm around and flicked the attack away with little effort, then shooting out his leg to wrap around Hao's in an attempt to trip him up. Hao jumped and shot both feet out in front, kicking Yoh square in the stomach. The boy went flying with a grunt of pain.

"Ow," he said, hand over his injured abdomen.

"Getting better, but not near good enough. You leaned forward only a little when you did that, which is the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do. Lean back, and try to get your head out of the range of the opponent's legs, otherwise they might try what I just did. At least you remembered what I said about the legs."

"'Always trust your legs more than your arms'," Yoh recited with a wince.

"Exactly. You know, if I were a completely ruthless person, I could've kicked you in the throat or the face just now and half-killed you."

"Oh, lovely. Won't be trying _that_ ever again."

"Good," Hao said. "In light of your poor offensive techniques, we'll be working solely on some of the more violent retaliations, like what I did."

Yoh shot his tutor a strange look. "I thought that if I was poor in offense I should work on offense."

"It's not that your performance is poor. It's your mindset that is ill-suited to brutish attacks. It's not in your nature, and it's a fool's task to change someone else's mind. We'll work mainly on retaliation. Get up."

Yoh grinned sardonically and stood up, staggering slightly. "You got it, Slave Driver-sensei."

Hao laughed outright and took another look at Yoh's physical condition. A straight hit to the solar plexus with one foot and the stomach with another. It had been a long afternoon, so perhaps it would be all right to switch topics of study now.

"Changed my mind, we'll do phys' training tomorrow. Now it's psych training. I want to see how well you're able to function with pain."

"Oh, thank God," Yoh muttered. He was actually _good_ with the spiritual aspects of being a shaman.

"Kokimiyoi, you can come out now," Hao said to a stone tablet on a table at the far end of Yoh's backyard. White mist began to seep out of it, taking the form of a girl a year or two older than Yoh. She had a strictly no-nonsense look about her with differently coloured eyes and cropped brown hair that flipped out at the ends. She sat on the lawn table with a bemused expression.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Koki-san," Yoh said, bowing slightly.

She smiled slightly. "You as well, Yoh-dono. Hao-sama." Koki, as Yoh called her, was the spirit of a child artist that he had been practicing with for the last several days of training. "What aspect are we going over today?"

"We're going to start on Oversoul techniques today," Hao said, smiling fondly at her. Koki was a long-time friend of his.

Yoh raised an eyebrow. "Oversoul? What's that?"

"Precisely why we're studying it. You already are more than adept at loading spirits into your soul, but Oversoul is very different. In terms of your chemical makeup, what are you?"

Yoh made a face and pondered it. "Just a bunch of water, calcium, and God knows what else."

"Yes. You're made up of elements, same as everyone else. Your body is just an item. If a spirit can enter your body and use it, then-"

"-Then they can be loaded into other stuff, too?"

Hao was surprised and delighted for what had to be the thousandth time that week. Yoh was so smart! He was very good at picking up on information as it came to him. "Exactly. An Oversoul can really be just about anything, but it's infinitely easier if the 'other stuff' you use has something to do with the spirit in question."

"And since I'm an artist-" Koki said.

"-We'll be using her art materials," said Hao.

"Like what? Paintbrushes and charcoal?" Yoh asked, perplexed. Most art materials seemed pretty fragile to him.

Koki shook her head. "Your assumptions about the art world hurt my heart. We artists have more up our metaphorical sleeves than just paints and charcoal."

Hao picked up a small, glinting metal object that looked like a steel pencil from a distance. "This is the Exact-o-Knife that Koki actually used in her lifetime. Don't touch the blade on the edge; it'll slice you open like butter."

Yoh took the knife, examining the inch-long slanted blade on one end. It didn't look too threatening to him, but whatever Hao said went. "So, this is used in _art_? Whatever for?"

Koki joined the conversation once more. "It's basically for cutting out anything that has a lot of small twists and turns in the design that would be completely ruined by normal scissors. They can also be used for removing dried paint, as long as you're smart enough to know how to do it. The blades on the end have to be kept as keen as possible at all times, so they're removable and adjustable. Hao-sama wasn't kidding when he said they could slice you open. Happened to a poor girl I used to know. She was afraid of them for the rest of her days, far as I know. Other people had to use them for her. Mostly it was me, which is why I have such a bond with this particular Exact-o-Knife."

"Makes sense," Yoh said dubiously.

"I don't expect you to get it on the first or even the fifth time, so just go at your own pace, alright? I can't really give you any more hints, seeing as completing an Oversoul is different for everyone. See you, I'm going home," Hao said. "Keep Kokimiyoi here tonight. And… one more thing…" Hao's outstretched hand curled around the other boy's face, pulling him closer. Their lips met, moving against each other with an earnest grace that had come from the few times they'd practiced over that week. Hao flicked his tongue against Yoh's lips. The boy made a very tiny sound, as if he were trying to muffle himself. Either way, Hao's tongue was invited in for a battle. As usual, Yoh's version of offense was seriously lacking. He was no longer able to muffle his moans, either. When they broke contact, Yoh's eyes were a little glazed over. Hao looked cool as ever.

"'Kay, I will," Yoh said shakily, waving goodbye to the other boy. The hand and silly smile both fell after he disappeared from sight.

"You're missing him already?" Koki asked slyly, hand not quite big enough to cover her smile.

"Ma—maybe," Yoh said, blushing. Koki just laughed.

"Did you want to give it a try?"

Yoh looked down at his hands. "Yeah, I probably should. I get the feeling that he'd know if I didn't practice."

Koki nodded. "You're right. Knowing him, he _would_, too."

Yoh's fist tightened around the knife. "Let's try it.

* * *

Yoh had tried it about four times now with not too much success. The fourth time, it had happened for a full seven seconds before disappearing. The Oversoul had taken the form of a beautiful twisting set of nine ribbons, each with an elongated Exact-o-Knife blade incorporated on the ends and hanging from evenly spaced metal clasps on the fabric. It was a beautiful weapon, with twisting Celtic designs on the silk and glinting metal adornments, but it was too hard to maintain. Koki was getting a little exhausted, too, which was odd considering that she was a ghost.

"Do you want to call it a night, Yoh-dono?"

Yoh laughed, still breathing hard. "Yeah. Sounds like a plan to me."

"You're a very good student. Very few people get that much success in the first night. Hao-sama will be pleased."

"Really? You think so? I mean, we haven't even gotten it perfect yet."

"You don't have to be perfect for Hao-sama. You just have to be you, and there's nothing wrong with that. You're one of the best students Hao-sama has ever had, for one thing. You don't have to improve yourself any more for him."

"I am?"

"Take it from me; I've been one of his spirits for a very long time, so I think I'd know. You're also one of the very few who have been able to achieve the ribbon form of the Oversoul. Most people just managed to make something akin to a sword. That's not my style at all. People who are more compatible with me are always the ones to get the ribbon."

"You mean the Oversoul doesn't always depend on just the spirit?"

"No, sometimes the master changes it, too. But often, most people don't know it, seeing as most spirits, once finding a master, stay with that person for the rest of the master's life."

"Then… all those people you're saying did an Oversoul with you… what happened to them that you're not with them?"

Koki's expression darkened. "They… moved on. Found better places to be and people to see. Hao-sama only trained them; after that, who can say?"

"I see. So they got different spirits and became real shamans after Hao trained them?"

"Sometimes."

With that, the subject was subtly dropped.

* * *

Hao looked up at the sky once more. Twilight was such a beautiful time of day. He wondered vaguely how Yoh was getting on with the Oversoul training. Depending on what kind of person the shaman was, the Oversoul could take one of three forms: the katana, the shield, or the ribbon. The katana was obviously for the offensive people who just wanted to mess other people up. The shield was for the mousy people who were more concerned with their own personal safety than the defeat of the opponent. The ribbon was for those few people who were a perfect, beautiful balance between the two. Hao highly suspected that Yoh would get the ribbon. He just knew it.

There was a spring in Hao's step that he could swear hadn't been there before. Was having such a good student with so much promise really so exciting? He smiled at that. Yes. Yes, it was. Teaching had always been such a worthwhile endeavour in his eyes, even though sometimes the students didn't pull through. This time around, he had a wonderful student and was honestly enjoying himself.

_Maybe sucking out his soul at the end of this isn't such a good idea… Seems like such a shame…_Hao shook those thoughts out of his head, or at least tried to. Was he getting soft? He'd been alive for a crazy long time, but had he really ever felt this amount of compassion for his future victims? No, not really, even when promising ones had come along. There had certainly been others with Yoh's level of skill and above. Usually, those people were chosen as minions rather than victims, but that was out of Hao's self-interest rather than compassion. It was always nice to have strong minions who loved the crap out of you to take care of the small fries so that you didn't have to do it yourself and get tired out. Minions solved that problem nicely.

No matter how hard he thought about it, Hao could _not_ picture Yoh being one of the loyal minions. It was much easier to imagine the "partners in crime" thing than the former.

_Is he really so important to you, Hao?_ A small voice asked. _Now you know he HAS to go. Anyone important to you will fade away as you get stronger. It'll only hurt you in the end. But if you take him in and make him a part of you, he'll live on with you forever. You can keep him all to yourself forevermore. You need to take his soul now, while you can bring yourself to do it._ Hao shook his head, trying to throw out the voice. Even if he'd been willing to comply, Yoh simply wasn't at the stage of training where he would do Hao any good. He had to get stronger and Hao would just have to wait. It wasn't something he was looking forward to anymore.

Odd as it was, the longhaired boy considered the other to be almost a brother. Well, they did look alike, sound alike, and think alike. It really was like finding a long-lost twin, separated at birth. It was really cool, especially when no one else knew. It was like a dirty little secret that children chuckled over while their parents' backs were turned. It felt wonderful to have secrets that were so much fun.

_It's 'cause you've kissed him, isn't it? You just did it on a whim that first time, but after that, you knew damn well what you were doing every time you touched him. Don't tell me you're going all schoolgirl on me over another GUY??_ asked the voice. Hao firmly rejected the idea. There was no way. Hao may've been frighteningly pretty for a boy, but that didn't automatically make him gay. Besides, he had dated girls before. The word _bisexual_ floated in and out of his mind.

Hao just took a deep breath and kept walking. How far away WAS his house, anyway? He was certain that it usually didn't take this long to make the trip. He rubbed the back of his neck, which was beginning to ache.

_Great Spirits above, just don't make me do anything that I'll really regret doing_, he prayed.

* * *

Well, this is the first chapter that has hit ten pages on Word. Wowza. And you know, just about NOTHING actually HAPPENED in this chapter. I feel kind of like I gypped(sp?) some people. I don't know. I also included a LOT of OCs.

Let's review:

**Shibai**: She's the redhead of Manta's new friends. She a self-proclaimed drama geek, so her name, meaning drama or play, suits her very well. She's got one younger brother who loves video games. He played Kingdom Hearts a lot, which is how she first got into yaoi. She had noticed that a lot of male characters really seemed to care about each other, and that's when the fangirlism started. She doesn't tend to get along with her teachers.

**Kaime**: She's the brunette and the youngest of five siblings. She doesn't live with all five, since they're all in college. The oldest is a boy, the second oldest also a boy, and then the third and fourth are identical twin sisters. Kaime means something along the lines of "nth time around", so it's kind of an insensitive name for her. She resents being the youngest and strongly wishes to break the low expectations her parents seem to have of her. She was going to have a younger brother, but he died in childbirth.

**Shindou**: She's the blonde with good grades in band and math, but is good at just about nothing else. She plays the flute and can do some crazy awesome things with it. She's considered a prodigy with a flute in her hands. Shindou can mean three things: 1. an oscillation or vibration, 2. a prodigy or wonder child, or 3. shock, tremor, or impact. Since she's a musician (noise is technically vibrations in the first place) and totally brilliant at it (the wonder child part) and has a very loud voice (she makes a big impact, I suppose), the name suits her remarkably well. Her grandfather on her mother's side was a world-renown musician as well, so she was technically named for him. No one actually expected her to live up to the name!

**Kokimiyoi**: She's the spirit that Hao and Yoh work with. Because her spiritual energy is remarkably similar to Hao's, he uses her to train those he wishes to victimise. Her name means smart, clever, etc. Her nickname, Koki, means aged seventy years, ancient records, an antique, or exhalation. She's usually a very disapproving person, so even the last part personifies her sighs of exasperation. She loves history as a subject, so once more, the name suits her. She's a wonderful artist and knows lots of little obscure facts about the tricks of the trade. She's seen a great many of her masters-in-training be killed and eaten by Hao, so she's really gone through a lot. Koki was actually in love with Hao for a while, but now that she's met Yoh, she's determined to protect him as best she can. She's suffering from the same thing that most of the girls at Yoh's school (for example, Celestine, Shibai, Kaime, and Shindou) have: the intense maternal desire to protect Yoh and care for him no matter what. Poor thing. She's not in love with him, though. It's strictly a Mommy thing.

Well, see ya! Love you all. #kisses#


End file.
